Courtesy: UEFA.com

Waiting nearly over for Gödöllö

Thursday, 2 November 2006

by Márton Dinnyés

from Budapest

Futsal Club Gödöllö are making their debut on the European stage - and in December they are set to welcome at least one of the continent's biggest names to Hungary.

Strength shown
The Hungarian champions have been selected as one of the four mini-tournament hosts for the UEFA Futsal Cup Elite round, for which the draw is made on Friday. Gödöllö attracted an average of around 1,000 fans for their three matches in the Main round, when they proved their worth with comfortable wins against FC Raba and Toligma Chinisau before coming unstuck 11-0 against 2005/06 semi-finalists FC Shakhtar Donetsk.

Top seeds
They already know that either holders Boomerang Interviú, Spanish champions El Pozo Murcia FS or 2004/05 UEFA Futsal Cup winners Action 21 Charleroi will be coming to Budapest as the top seeds in the group. The arrival of one of that élite trio will help boost the small-sided game even further in a nation that announced themselves by qualifying for the 2005 UEFA European Futsal Championship.

'Interest high'
Regardless of what happens next, Gödöllo futsal director Zsolt Mátrai knows an important milestone was reached in the successful Main round. "Our most important aim was to promote this sport in Hungary and a UEFA Cup mini-tournament was a very good tool for this," he said. "We created a professional atmosphere and the interest was very high: we had sold out games. We wanted to prove to the Hungarian futsal world, the FA and UEFA that we can organise any kind of important events. Thanks to the television coverage a high number of people watched the matches for the first time. These people are very much looking forward to the December tournament."

Learning
Coach János Kiss says his side are learning important lessons from meeting a higher class of opposition. "Most of our players have international experience and we could feel that in the first two games against Raba Riga and Chisinau," he said. "I think that most of the players have the abilities and skills that are needed in a UEFA Cup game. We have to improve our concentration and mental toughness, though, Shakhtar got eleven goals from around 15 chances while we were unable to score despite having a few chances."

Draw crucial
Kiss knows Gödöllo will be outsiders in the Elite round, but is reserving judgement for Friday afternoon. "There are a few very strong sides in Europe so I think the draw is a very important thing in this sport at the moment," he said. "If we can avoid Murcia and Boomerang in the Elite round we will have a chance. I would be happy if we could win at least one game."



Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com